Iowa Golf Association
Chad Pitts | Executive Director | Iowa Golf Association
Moving in the Right Direction With the 2021 golf season well underway, it seems as though golf has kept moving in the right direction. Coming off the heels of last year’s unexpected boom due to the coronavirus pandemic, courses are as busy as ever and people seem to be excited to get out and play. We are seeing it in our entry numbers as we have had waitlists in our Iowa Mid-Amateur, IGA Match Play, IGA Women’s Match Play, and Iowa Amateur. Having a waitlist at the Iowa Mid-Amateur and Women’s Match Play is a first for us.
I think the opportunity the game of golf had last year when it was, in some respects, “the only game in town” drove so many golfers to come out of hibernation that it sparked an interest in getting back into competitive golf. That is great for the IGA, but also great for golf courses around the state.
keep kids coming back in the future, but as they tell their friends about it that could drive future entries. We will see how it goes, but we hope that everyone finds it as an attempt to try something new and nothing more than that.
With that being said, I hope that all of you continue to think of new and exciting ideas to grow the game and keep it fun. If you have any great ideas that you want to share, we would love to hear from you. In the It is exciting to see, but it will probably meantime, best of luck with the require us to do a bit of rethinking on how rest of the season and never we operate a few of our more popular hesitate to contact us with any events. Perhaps we will re-institute qualquestions you may have. We ifying for the Iowa Amateur, for instance (the last time we had qualifying scheduled We are planning to add “walk-up music” to love to help whenever possible. was in 2011). Thankfully, those types of our Junior Championships this year. This decisions are not left up to me, or even is music we play (chosen by each player) our staff, entirely. We have a committee of prior to them teeing off on the first hole. amateur players that help drive those de- That may seem out of left field, but keep in terminations, which ultimately, our Board mind that the Solheim Cup at Des Moines of Directors would approve. It’s a good Golf & Country Club had a DJ on the first problem to have. tee pumping out tunes before each match teed off. Also, the PGA Tour Zurich ClasAnecdotally, I’m hearing from golf course sic (New Orleans) plays walk-up music for operators around the state that their club each team. Obviously, the music is muted events are as popular as ever. when it is time to tee off, but it could add to the “fun” of our event. Not only could it Now the key is making sure that we hold on to that enthusiasm. We need to continue to try things to keep younger people engaged with the game and making things fun for not just beginners, but everyone. Ultimately, that’s the key. I don’t know much, but I do know that if something isn’t fun, people are not going to keep choosing to do it or spend their discretionary income on it.
www.iowapga.com 13
